Four On the Floor
by roadrodent60
Summary: Judy Hopps is stuck on eternal meter maid duty until an old skill she has gets her assigned to a new project.


Four on the Floor

"And that's all," Bogo announced. "Hopps, stay seated. The rest of you are dismissed!"

As they left, several of the police mammals cast curious glances Judy's way.

"Wonder what's up?" one commented to another.

"Knowing Bobo and his hard assed 'tude towards Hopps, it's not something good!" replied his companion.

"Good grief, what could be worse than perpetual meter maid duty?!"

"Don't know. But if there is, the Chief will think it up!"

With everyone else gone, the "bullpen" was quiet, almost eerily so.

"Hopps, you used to ride work ponies, correct?" the Chief asked.

The question took the bunny by surprise.

"Yes. We have a lot of land where wild fossberries grow. They are highly prized for their flavor and the wild ones, for some reason, always taste better than the more domestically grown ones. A batch of the ground is rough and uneven and you have to cover a lot of it to gather any real amount of berries. Riding and pack ponies are better for the job than vehicles, even electric ones, and create less erosion damage than vehicles," she said. "I was on the berry line since I was ten."

"So, you've got experience with uneven terrain. What about unexpected shifts in movements?" the Chief asked.

"The ponies are very surefooted. So, there's very little in the way of surprise moves from them."

Bogo thought that over.

"When's the last time you did any real riding, at least several weeks at a time?" he asked.

"Whew, that would be the last summer break at college, about two years ago. I've done some riding during my vacation breaks but that was only for a week or two," a baffled Judy supplied.

In the ensuing quiet, she could almost hear the 'gears' turning in the cape buffalo's head. Though his face was impassive, Judy got the sense that her boss wasn't all that thrilled about something.

"Very well. I've been ordered to supply one officer for a new project and you're the only one in the precinct with any riding skills, so you've got the assignment," he said at last.

"New project?"

"Mounted patrol officer duty. You'll have a partner and mount that you will have to get used to and train with…and on," the Chief explained.

Something in the way he said that raised the doe's hackles to about half mast. She sensed that there was something…odd about this.

"Head over to the Zootopia Police Academy and report to Major Friedkin. She'll get you squared away with your partner…and mount," Bogo said.

Zootopia police Academy:

"Good to see my one, and only, rabbit graduate again!" the polar bear instructress boomed to Judy.

The bunny was glad to have her ears down. They helped deaden down the effects of her old instructor's voice. Major Isabelle Friedkin was a long standing 'terror' for students in the Academy. Her favorite phrase for those who "fell on their face" on the obstacle courses was "You're DEAD!"; a phrase that, from time to time, still echoed in Judy's dreams…or nightmares. The two of them were walking through the academy's grounds headed for the admin building. Here and there were groups of cadets doing runs and other physical and conditioning activities.

"Not all that surprised old Hard Ass Bogo sent you for this assignment," Friedkin said.

"What do you mean?" Judy asked.

"That you, out of all the members of the Zootopia Police Dept. are the only mammal that's the right size for the mount you will be riding."

"I am?"

"Yup."

"Know anything about the mammal they are partnering me with?" the bunny asked.

Isabelle threw a look at the doe.

"So, that old buff didn't fill her in," she thought. "Why am I not surprised?"

She took a few seconds to figure out what to say, then…

"Physically, he's darned near ideal for this job," Friedkin said. "Finished up his training a week ago. Over all, he's second in his class."

That sounded good but…

"What's the catch," the wary lapine asked.

The white furred fem chuckled.

"What makes you think there is one?"

"Bogo's not been happy with my being foisted on to him from the word get go. Thus my eternal meter maid assignment," Judith said. "The couple of times I've done on the spot arrests have only earned tail chewings from him. So, to assign me to something that puts me on the street doing pretty much what I want to do in the first place means there has to be a catch, one or more drawbacks, to said assignment. It or they would have to involve either my partner or my mount. Maybe even both."

Isabelle nodded.

"Good, you've learned to get a good read on ole Bogo," she said.

"So?"

"Hopps, I know you enough to figure that in the time between leaving the precinct and arriving here that you've…"

"You slackin' bums! Pick up the pace! This ain't your fourth birthday party in your mommy's backyard!" the bear hollered at a bunch of runners.

"…done some background research on the history of mounted patrol work," Friedkin got back to Judith.

The rabbit nodded.

"So, you know that it's been done before."

"Back in pre motorized vehicle days they worked pretty well. But the advent of cars, trucks, and motorcycles presented control problems with the mounts. Horses tend to be skittish around all of the noise, smells, and movements of traffic. Flashy paintwork on the vehicles doesn't help matters any. They tried to train big numbers of horses to see if they could get enough to really work with but, for some reason, those that made the grade were not enough to be really useful and, even then, about 22% of those mounts developed problems over time. The project was finally deemed just too pricy and uncertain so they gave up on it."

The sow nodded.

"Right."

"I know that ponies are less…high strung than horses but I don't see them being the answer," Judy said.

"Why not?"

"Their size limits their riders to my size, plus or minus about, maybe, fifty percent. The biggest mammal you could put on them would be a coyote…or a fox."

Judy didn't see the back corners of the instructor's mouth twitch upwards for a second.

"Add to that that the ones I know of are not gallopers, the fastest I got any of mine to do was a medium trot. Due to that and their size one is not going to get places fast using ponies."

Judy looked sideways and up to Friedkin.

"So, again, what's the catch?" she asked.

"Part of the 'catch' is that while your partner is quite competent at the job, he's, also, something of a wiseass. Jokes a lot in non-stress situations, so, I hope your sense of humor is pretty good. Guy throws out some real groaners now and then."

"And my mount?"

"That…you'll just have to see for yourself."

They entered the Admin building and headed to Isabelle's main office. The cavernous, to Judy, room hadn't changed any from the last time she'd seen it; several big, even for a polar bear, file cabinets up against the back wall, the desk and its accompanying chair. Computer on that desk plus a number of folders laid out on it. Judy looked around and thus she missed seeing the bear tap a button on her intercom.

"I thought I was to meet my partner," the bunny said.

Isabelle said nothing, just gazed at Judy. The doe got the feeling that there was something odd going on and that was not improving her nerves any.

"Where is my partner and, more to the point, where is my mount?" Judy asked.

"Here," came a voice from behind her.

Turning around, the rabbit saw who spoke. Her jaw dropped and her eyes went comically wide.

"Ready to do a familiarization run on the obstacle course?" the grinning mammal asked.

Judy sighed as she sagged down onto her bed. Her new apartment contained amenities that her previous one hadn't, one being its own bathroom that was almost sized for her and a kitchenette where she actually cooked some decent hot meals for herself vs. only microwaving. Another was that her neighbors were a darned sight quieter than in her previous place.

"Who'd have thought that my catching a minor thief would have the victim so grateful that he'd direct me to this place!" she murmured, eyes scanning the room.

It cost just a bit more than her old place and was, for obvious reasons, worth it. Especially the somewhat oversized, for her, bathtub. It allowed her to immerse herself up to her chin in hot water which helped to ease some of her aches. She had added a couple of extra doses of scent neutralizer to the water to handle the additional sweat and the other scent on her.

"Frith, two years out of the saddle and I'm sore all over from just one day of riding!" Judy grumbled.

"Cheep! Cheep! Cheep!" sounded her phone.

With a soft groan, Judy blind felt about on the end table by the bed and found her phone.

"Got to be mom and dad," she grumbled, bringing the screen into view.

It was. She debated on letting it go to voice mail. But, then they'd be calling every ten to fifteen minutes and… She tapped the "Accept" icon.

"Hi, folks!" Judy said in a too cheery voice.

"You look tired. Rough day?" Bonnie asked.

"Whew, yeah. I've been out on the obstacle course most of the day, getting familiarization training for my new assignment and I'm feeling a little saddle-sore," Jude huffed.

"New assignment?" her dad, Stu, questioned.

"Yes. Coming off of being a meter maid and going on to mounted patrol duty," his daughter explained. "My time riding the wild berry line has paid off in getting me out of handing out parking tickets all of the time."

Judy saw the mixed expressions of surprise and concern on her parents' faces.

"Mounted duty? They are putting you on a pony?" Bonnie asked.

"Not quite. They've given me a partner to work with. We spent several hours today going through maze courses and doing some flat out speed running…"

Judy closed her eyes and, for a few seconds, felt the air rushing by when they were up to speed, her ears strung out in the wind. Hanging on for dear life when her mount made a sudden change in direction or did a dodge. All of it thrilling in a number of ways.

"Providing you don't neck whiplashed in one of those sudden shifts in direction!" her sense of self-preservation groused.

"No, my mount isn't a pony. Too much stuff in the city and surrounding metro areas that can present problems for them," she said.

"Well, what are you riding?" Stu asked.

Judy considered the question for several heartbeats, then decided to go blunt.

"Not what, who," she answered.

Judith suppressed an impulse to giggle at the terribly confused looks on their faces.

"Who?" both of them repeated.

"Yes, my mount and partner are one and the same."

If possible, both older rabbits appeared even more baffled.

"Judith dear, you're not making sense!" her mother stated.

"I am, seeing as he is a 'taur," Judy said.

Mom and dad quick look at each other, then back to the phone screen.

"A…'tar"? What is that?" asked her dad.

"A mammal with 'four on the floor'," Judy said. "As in four foot paws and an upright biped torso above the front pair."

A couple of seconds went by and then expressions of comprehension lit up her parents' faces.

"A centaur mammal! You're working with a centaur?" both said.

"That I am. We'll be going through some more training for the next few weeks. Getting the kinks out of my riding skills and becoming more used to one another. Plus, doing some fine tuning on my riding tack," Judy replied.

There followed a bit of silence as they digested this information. Then…

"Honey, what kind of…'taur' is he? And what's his name?" Bonnie asked.

The moment of truth was at paw. Judy braced herself.

"His name is Nicholas Wilde. He's a…foxtaur," she answered.


End file.
